Bella U. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Bella U., who was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1928. She recalls her comfortable childhood prior to 1934; her mother identifying herself as a Christian to protect their house during Kristallnacht (she had converted to Judaism); her father obtaining passage to Cuba after his brief arrest in May 1939; their departure on the St. Louis from Hamburg; refusal by the Cuban government to allow debarkation of any passengers; sailing between Cuba and Florida while efforts were made to find refuge; returning to Europe; living in Cherbourg, then Poitiers and Loudun; her father's internment as an "enemy alien"; his release after German invasion; arrest with her family in 1942; release with her mother and sister after her mother declared herself a Christian (they never saw her father again); arrest with her mother and sister in 1944; and release from Drancy with assistance from a German official. Mrs. U. describes living in Paris and Loudun; liberation; their emigration to the United States in 1947; her mother's death in 1949; and her marriage in 1950. She discusses her reluctance to share these memories with her children; visits to Europe; and attending the St. Louis reunion. She shows photographs.
Extent and Medium
1 videocassette (3/4" u-matic)
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- U., Bella, -- 1928-
Corporate Bodies
- Drancy (Concentration camp)
- St. Louis (Ship)
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Video tapes.
- Women.
- Refugees, Jewish.
- Mothers and daughters.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Children.
- Jews -- Migrations.
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
- Child survivors.
- Sisters.
- Children of interfaith marriage.
- Survivor-child relations.
- Crystal Night, 1938.
- Antisemitism -- Prewar.
- Postwar experiences.
- Aid by non-Jews.
Places
- Nuremberg (Germany)
- Germany.
- Poitiers (France)
- Cherbourg (France)
- Paris (France)
- Loudun (France)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat